Yep, that's right guys and gals, I'm back after my long absence to bring you another of the Gambit decks that my good friend Mr. Joey Leake (Krypt0s) wrote an article about back in the good ol' days (before the dark times... before the banned/restricted list...). Just as a refresher, a Gambit deck is a strategy in which the idea is to sacrifice a resource in the early game in exchange for setting up a superior position in the late game. The "Don't Get All Mushy" deck is strongly influenced by the gambit idea -- basically putting all your eggs into one basket and hoping for the best.

Some of you may recognize the main theme of this deck from a post by JangoJay at Rebelbasers.com awhile back. This deck is what I feel to be the culmination of all the discussion on that thread about how this deck could come together. Those of you who haven't seen that discussion may be wondering just how this deck works, and what exactly makes it a gambit deck. Well, let's start by doing an arena-by-arena breakdown of the main goal of each card.

The Character Arena

First off, and most importantly, is the Character arena. This is where we'll find the material for starting the fire. Mon Mothma (A) was the reason this deck was created in the first place. By trying to play Don't Get All Mushy on her and giving another one of your Characters the "Tap Each of your Rebel units costs 1 fewer build counter to deploy," ability, you can make all your Rebel Ground and Space units cost 2 build points less. With the addition of Lars Homestead, you can play all those available 3-build-point units for nothing.

But what good is being able to deploy all your units for dirt cheap if you have no way of drawing into them, and drawing them in large quantities? Luke Skywalker (J) fills this role perfectly. He has the ability to draw one card each time you prevent damage. This brings up the question, however, of how to get an affordable damage prevention loop started in the build step that will let you draw cards. It's not enough to do damage to one unit once; you must keep the damage moving around.

Deflection would be the perfect ability to use, and one unit in particular pops to mind when you think of a cheap Deflect ability. Dark Woman (A), at "Pay 1 Force Deflect 1 Damage," has the cheapest Deflect cost of any Character unit to date. By playing a Don't Get All Mushy on Dark Woman (A), you can give another unit that same Deflect ability and allow them to start a deflection loop with her. Jedi Training Exercise provides the 1 point of damage that you need to start the loop in the first place.

So, we have the card-drawing loop and we have the unit cost reduction, but there's still one problem: You'll only be able to loop two times on the first turn because of the Force cost. This is where Yoda (H) becomes critical. He essentially reduces the cost of the Deflect ability to "Pay 0 Force Deflect 1," thus allowing you to Deflect an indefinite amount of times. This, in effect, triggers the card draw ability of Luke Skywalker (J). So with these four units, you can start a damage prevention/card drawing loop that will let you draw your entire deck, which can all be done on the first turn.

The Ground Arena

What was really needed for Ground was something cheap, fast, and deadly. The choice of Unmodified Snowspeeders fit this role perfectly. At 3 build, 60 speed, 4 power, and 5 health, these things can pack a lot of punch. Also by costing only 3 build points, they could be deployed for free with the above-mentioned combo. That still leaves at least eight more card slots.

The last unit in the Ground arena is a lone Jawa Sandcrawler. Even one Jawa Sandcrawler can allow you to draw through your deck just that much faster. It also gives you the ability to discard two cards from your hand, so that, if need be, you can Han's Promise out one of your needed Characters.

The Space Arena

Good old Light Side Space, cheap and über. With the multitude of 3-build-point Rebel Starfighters, it wasn't that hard to come across enough to fill the arena. The choices were almost made for me. The X-Wing Escort is a must in any Light Side Space arena where starfighters will be your main means of attack. That +2 power bonus they gain makes them that much better.

The same goes for the Red Squadron X-Wing -- it's cheap and effective. Having both Shields 1 and Critical Hit 1, it was another perfect choice. The main reason for the A-Wing was speed. Dark Side's new addition of the TIE Interceptor caused the need to run something that could attack first and take out its chance of being able to Intercept. The X-Wing Red Ten is another solid unit that packs both speed and power. The added bonus about the entire Space arena is that it can be played for free.

So, now that we have all the materials needed to start a fire, let's find the fuel and the spark.

Battle

Here's where we find the fuel: Don't Get All Mushy. This card, when used in conjunction with this deck, seems wildly under-costed. For 2 Force, you get to have two Characters exchange all activated abilities. This gives Mon Mothma (A)'s tap and reduce cost ability, or Dark Woman (A)'s Deflect ability, to any other Character. So for 4 Force, you get to play your entire deck and draw every card. Not too bad, in my opinion (or anyone else's, I would think).

So, we now have the materials and the fuel, but we're still lacking the spark that will set everything in motion. That's where the Mission cards come into play.

Mission

What single card could set everything in motion? Jedi Training Exercise, of course. This uncommon card from the Jedi Guardians expansion set is the trigger that does 1 damage to Dark Woman (A) and sets off the Deflection loop. Also, Han's Promise was added for that "just in case" instance where you can't get out all of your pieces to get the loop working. Just be careful that your opponent doesn't have a nasty surprise waiting in his discard pile.

Location

In the recent months, how many Light Side swarm decks have we seen built off Lars Homestead? All of those decks were good, but could any of them swarm to this magnitude? This Location is what allows you to deploy all your units for 0 build points, so it's rather crucial to the overall strategy of the deck. Get one of these out along with your Mon Mothma (A), and you'll be deploying units left and right for no build at all.

Overall Tips

You’ll have to put tons of build into Character. That's why this deck is considered a gambit deck. This should allow you to deploy the rest of your deck on the first turn for only 4 Force. Your optimal hand would contain one of each of the Characters, plus pretty much anything else. That will only leave you with 3 build points in setup if you don't have to bid down in order to play the deck. Or, if you get a Jawa Sandcrawler in your hand, you could wait to build Luke Skywalker (J) or Mon Mothma (A) with a Han's Promise.